little museum man

kara loves living near the big city because a lot of interesting museums are only a short car ride or train ride away. Chicago's museums fortunately seem to have a lot of free visitor days in september and october...general admission is free, but you pay to see any special exhibits or shows. Now that jude is so alert and exploring everything, kara thought he would really enjoy a chance to visit some of the great local attractions. And she would enjoy doing it for almost no cost.

Last Tuesday we visited Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. It has a lot of colorful fish tanks and exhibits which Jude, and his mom, enjoyed looking at. But the best part is their polar play zoo for the kids. Jude loves water a whole bunch. they provide kid sized smocks so he can keep his clothes dry while banging his hands into pretend tide pools and moving around large plastic sea shells.

splashin at the Shedd

The week before we hit the Field Museum on their free admission day. They too have a large kids play area. Jude seemed genuinely surprised and happy when Kara asked if he wanted to get out of the stroller and bang on the musical instruments and crawl around the plastic but outdoor-looking woods area.

Jude was completely unimpressed by Sue, the famous T-Rex.

jurassic jude

Kara had planned to just have jude pose in a picture highlighting the Field's pirate exhibit. But a nice lady insisted on taking a family photo.

arrr..ahoy from the Field Museum

Both jude and kara enjoyed two fun days out of the house in these great facilities.